Anniversaries
by anomaly16
Summary: The tombstone was in near perfect condition, a feat in itself since it was 3 years old, but he spent quite a bit of time keeping it nice, out of both love and respect for the one who lay beneath. one-shot, all characters involved.


**Warnings**: none really

**Author's Note**: Movie-verse Clintasha relationship though, Post Avengers movie time wise.

**Disclaimer: **I sadly do not own Avengers or any of the characters involved. :[

**Anniversaries**

The tombstone was in near perfect condition, a feat in itself since it was 3 years old, but he spent quite a bit of time keeping it nice, out of both love and respect for the one who lay beneath. On this day in particular he came, flowers in hand, and laid them gently against the stone, then sat.

"I know you hate flowers," he muttered, studying the inscription. He sighed and closed his eyes, "damn it, I miss you," he whispered.

"It's been awhile since you've been here," a female voice from behind him mused, gently.

Clint whipped around to see Natasha leaning against the small tree next to the plot.

He offered an apologetic smile, "Yeah, sorry about that...I've been out of the country," he explained.

"SHIELD still running you into the ground," she stated more than asked, a hint of disapproval in her tone.

"More by choice," he admitted. "Ever since Coulson..." he drifted off, pausing with the onset of pain brought on by the memories, "...and you left me, nothing's keeping me at headquarters. The longer I'm in the field the less my mind wanders," he said simply.

"I'm sorry, Clint," she whispered.

His stomach clenched but he forced a sad smile, "not your fault you left," he offered.

Her gaze drifted to the flowers, "flowers? Really?" she asked, offering a smirk.

"Yeah, I know...it, it just seemed right today," he admitted. "It's been 3 years, you know."

Her gaze softened, "Yeah, I know," she said quietly.

She took a seat on the grass so she was facing Clint, then studied her partner.

"You look like hell," she finally said.

Clint let out a chuckle, "not the easiest day," he reminded, "not the easiest 3 years," he corrected, almost as an after thought.

She nodded sympathetically, then let her gaze wander. "So where'd SHIELD have you as of late?" she asked.

"Since our last visit?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Well, what's it been? 5 months?" he asked, frowning.

"Six and a half," she corrected gently.

Clint cringed, "sorry," he sighed. "Guess I've been busier than I thought."

Natasha nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Let's see then...First it was Bangkok, then Istanbul for 2 months-that was the longest mission, then I was down in Nigeria for a bit, which landed me in medical for 2 weeks. Then out west in Montana for a quick job, around Canada for a month then Madrid until last week," he summarized.

Natasha frowned, "what had you in medical?" she asked worriedly.

"Gunshot wound." He lifted his shirt so she could see the small scar in his left side.

Concern flashed in her eyes but they both ignored it, instead turning their gazes to the tombstone, and they fell into silence.

"They want me to go to Budapest next, Nat," he finally whispered.

Natasha glanced over briefly, "You'll have to go back eventually," she finally said.

He nodded, "I know...I just don't want to go back without you with me," he admitted. "It wouldn't be Budapest without you, and Coulson," he added. "I wish you would-" he began.

"I know. But there's no point in dwelling on things we can't have," she interrupted quickly. She paused, "but me too," she added softly.

They lapsed into another silence.

Natasha finally spoke up, "Steve came to see me awhile back," she offered.

"Oh?" Clint asked.

Natasha nodded.

"How is he? I haven't seen him since before Nigeria," Clint asked.

"He's good...he's worried about you," she added.

Clint nodded, though not surprised by her news.

"He's been doing solo missions for SHIELD as well. I think he's lonely now that Fury hasn't called on the Avengers recently."

Clint nodded, "I guess he's pretty alone as well. Thor's got Jane and Asgard, Bruce and Tony have each other, they're busy doing science experiments."

"You could reach out, you know," Natasha said pointedly.

Clint was silent for a moment but nodded, "Yeah, I should...Though I haven't been the best company for the past few years," he admitted.

"I'm sure they understand," Natasha replied.

Again Clint nodded.

After a moment he arched his back, "I'm tired of talking about the past," he announced and Natasha nodded in agreement.

"I saw the new Bourne movie though...it was good," he switched topics to something lighter, "Remember, we saw the first one together? Between missions, we had one night off, and all you wanted to do was sleep, but I wanted to see the movie, so you came with me..." he paused, a twinkle in his eye as he remembered and Natasha smiled at how happy these memories made him.

"Nat, do you remember we both fell asleep in the theater and you almost attacked the manager when he tried to wake you because he grabbed your arm? I remember we had to do serious damage control that night..."

Up the hill from the grave, a small group was gathering, the last member having just arrived.

Tony walked up to the others and gazed down. Their friend was sitting Indian style, his back half turned away from the grave and he was talking animatedly, every now and then his words floating up to the others. Behind him, a bouquet of flowers lay against the grey stone.

"How long has he been here?" Tony asked quietly.

Thor's eyes flickered to Tony before returning to the archer, "he was deep in conversation with her before I arrived 15 minutes past," he replied.

"We didn't want to interrupt yet," Steve added.

Tony nodded, "he doesn't know we're here?" he asked.

Bruce shook his head, "he isn't with us now," he said softly, watching his friend below.

Tony nodded and settled in next to Bruce, "Well, then a few more minutes won't hurt," he said quietly.

The four watched from atop the hill in silence, broken only by the comfortable drone of the distant murmuring from below and an occasional laugh that the wind carried up the hill.

After awhile, Clint fell into silence and the others took their cue. They stood and made their way down the hill, Bruce leading the way.

When they were a few yards away, Clint's gaze shifted from the spot by the tree to them.

"Hey, Clint," Bruce greeted tenderly. "Are we interrupting?" he asked.

Clint glanced back over but Natasha was gone. His shoulders sagged slightly but he forced a sad smile, "No, no you're not interrupting," he replied softly.

"We brought flowers," Thor said gently. He stepped forward and laid them gently next to Clint's.

Clint nodded his thanks and let out a choked chuckle, "she always hated flowers," he said.

Steve nodded sympathetically and offered a hand to help Clint up. "She wouldn't mind these," he assured.

Clint just nodded, his gaze fixed on the tombstone.

"Are you ready to go?" Tony asked carefully, "Because whenever you are, Pepper's got a little meal in her honor prepared for us. But it can wait as long as needed," he added.

Clint nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready," he nodded, almost as if to assure himself of the fact.

Bruce clasped his shoulder reassuringly.

The others turned to head back up the hill but Clint lagged behind for just a moment before following them.

He gave one final gaze to the tombstone and nodded, "Bye, Nat," he whispered, "I'll be back soon," he promised. Clint paused, "I'll be back after Budapest."

_A/N: Ah, this just popped into my head at work and it had to get out...updates on my other stories are coming soon hopefully! Thanks for reading!_


End file.
